A Great Start to a Stellar Relationship
by JediDreams
Summary: One can only hope the beginning isn't an indication of how the rest of this unlikely apprenticeship will unravel...ObiWan and Anakin in the early days.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Off to a Rough Start

Author: JediDreams

A/N: I own only my OC's. The rest belongs to everyone else from whom George Lucas stole inspiration. I make no money on this.

"Keep up, Anakin."

The small boy from Tatooine bit his lower lip at the sharp but dull reprimand from the tall figure striding some distance in front of him. In reality, he knew Obi-Wan Kenobi wasn't _that_ tall…but from Anakin's vantage point, struggling to keep the swirling brown robes in sight through a teeming mass of beings in an enormous city far from home, the Jedi Knight seemed huge and remote. Somehow, he reflected wistfully, Qui-Gon had never seemed so far away. The late Jedi Master had towered over Obi-Wan, but Master Jinn never made Anakin feel small and annoying. He couldn't quite shake the feeling that that was all he was to Obi-Wan—a small and annoying nuisance with whom he was saddled for the foreseeable future. The young Jedi hadn't said or done anything especially mean to Anakin, but there was a distance between them just as palpable as if they'd stood on opposite ends of Beggar's Canyon at home on Tatooine. With a small sigh, Anakin Skywalker hitched his pants higher up at the waist so he wouldn't keep tripping on them and took a few running steps to catch up to Obi-Wan.

Ahead, Obi-Wan Kenobi took pains to ignore the flagging energy and enthusiasm of his new Padawan. True, Coruscant was brand-new to the former slave child (well, almost), but he would just have to get used to living on a city planet instead of a desert one. This was the home of the Jedi Temple—now his home for the next several years as well. He would get used to the sights soon enough and stop that annoying gawking habit he seemed to have picked up since their adventures on Naboo.

The young Jedi frowned as a nagging voice that bore suspicious similarity to his late Master's started up inside his head again. _He's just a child, Obi-Wan, and he's been dragged across the galaxy and back again in a matter of days. He's been through more at his age than most of his peers at the Temple. And he comes from a desert dust ball of a planet—why wouldn't he be tempted to gawk? Desert to endless city? How many beings go through a transplant like that before they've even reached their first decade of life? _

Obi-Wan's frown deepened, and he did not even notice his hand reaching up to flick at the stubborn thoughts as if they were so many flying insects crowding around his temples. _Well, like it or not, the changes have happened to him. Force, he WANTED to come to the Temple and become a Jedi, he's got nothing to complain about._ Deep inside, a tiny voice that was all Obi-Wan whispered, _"But he wanted to be a Jedi with Qui-Gon…not you."_ Obi-Wan swatted at the voice again before throwing another glare over his shoulder at the subject of his inner dialogue, struggling to keep up with his fast pace as he strode through the crowded walkways. He was deliberately setting a faster pace than necessary, but he couldn't say what his reasons were. _That should probably bother me,_ he thought to himself.

Anakin swallowed and ducked his head as he sped up even more to keep pace with Obi-Wan's much longer legs. He could tell Obi-Wan was unhappy, and his new Master seemed to be angry with him, but he couldn't figure out exactly why. That could be dangerous, he knew from his slave days. It was always best to figure out what you were doing to anger the master before the master punished you for continuing to do it. Taking a deep breath that did pathetically little to calm his nerves, Anakin looked up at Obi-Wan.

"Um…Master Obi-Wan, sir?" he asked hesitantly, trotting alongside the tower of cream and brown. "Uh…sir?" he asked again a moment later, when his first query met with silence. Obi-Wan turned his head abruptly, looking down at Anakin with a fierce expression that startled Anakin into a standstill. The boy was so unnerved by the look on Obi-Wan's face that his question flew for a moment right out of his mind, and he just stood there gaping at Obi-Wan with a blank stare. Obi-Wan halted too, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared down at the wide-eyed child.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked abruptly. Anakin jumped at the question and fumbled for an answer.

"Uh, well, you see sir, I was just wondering…you, uh, seemed angry with me, and I was just wondering…uh…if I did something? I mean, besides being too slow, sir. If I did something wrong, I'm sorry, and I'll—" Obi-Wan cut him off by raising his right hand.

"I am not angry at you, Anakin. Whatever gave you that idea?" Anakin stared at him with a disbelieving look.

"Well, you looked mad, and you haven't really said anything to me except 'keep up' and 'stop staring at everything.' I thought you were mad at me," he answered uncertainly. Obi-Wan sighed impatiently and fidgeted his folded arms underneath his cloak.

"I am not angry at you, Anakin, I simply wish to get to the Temple at a reasonable hour. We are now at the busiest point of the day for traffic in Coruscant, and I don't want to be delayed any longer than necessary." At the embarrassed look on Anakin's face, Obi-Wan forced himself to take a softer tone. "I am sorry if I did something to make you think I was angry with you. I am not. I am tired and hungry—as I'm sure you are—and I just want to reach our quarters and go to sleep. Tomorrow morning we must report to the Council, and we'll both need our rest before we face that particular trial. Some other day, perhaps, we'll go sightseeing a bit, and you'll quickly get used to living in a city. Humans have amazing abilities of adaptation," he finished, laying what he hoped was a kindly hand on Anakin's shoulder. Anakin smiled tentatively, then all-out grinned when the smile was met with an answering one from Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan slowed his pace slightly as they continued their journey towards the Jedi Temple, but his thoughts were churning more rapidly than he cared to admit to. _He's not stupid, Kenobi. He was birthed by the Force, for crying out loud! He can sense things! He knows you don't like him, and now he's not going to trust you. Great start to a stellar relationship. Take your own advice and suck it up, Kenobi. After all, like it or not you're stuck with each other and he'll just have to make do with you instead of Qui-Gon. _The tiny voice spoke up again in a whisper. _I'd give anything to let him have Qui-Gon…if only I could have him back, too._

Anakin was looking up at him curiously now, so Obi-Wan tightened up his mental shields and pointed out their path through the crowds.

They had gone only a few minutes longer when they came to a wide and incredibly busy skyway, with a narrow pedestrian crossing platform built across 18 lanes of solid traffic. Speeders, skimmers, and skyboats of every make and model were packed into every lane, impatiently waiting for the stream of pedestrians to finish crossing before the traffic signal changed. Obi-Wan and Anakin were near the middle of the group as they crossed the skyway. Obi-Wan had reached the far side and bent down to ask Anakin if he needed to stop and catch his breath for a moment when he realized Anakin was not where he should have been. Straightening and turning quickly, he turned and looked back across the skyway. There, hunched in the middle of the platform, was Anakin.

The small boy was crouching in the exact center of the walkway, staring down in horrified fascination at the next level of skyway, some hundred meters below his feet. Far above, the prow of a very expensive luxury skyboat loomed over Anakin's head. From the driver's vantage point, he would not be able to see Anakin. The signal was about to change, and Anakin would be crushed by repulsorlifts or thrown off the edge of the walkway. Without another second's thought, Obi-Wan charged through the stragglers in the crowd and ran back towards Anakin. He was not even halfway to his young apprentice when Anakin looked up, and the traffic signal changed.

"Anakin, get back!" Obi-Wan yelled, coupling his words with a strong Force-shove from his outstretched hand. Anakin flew backwards, landing hard on his butt on the far side of the skyway. Other pedestrians grabbed his arms and hauled him back to safety as the mass of traffic roared across the platform, heedless of the figure still standing in it. Obi-Wan spared one glance over his right shoulder at the high prow of the skyboat bearing down on him before he launched himself straight up, somersaulting just over the top of the boat and coming down on the other side. There was no time to make another daring leap before the sporty late-model speeder that was next in line slammed into his legs, throwing him over the open-air cockpit and off the sloping tail.

The Jedi barely snagged the high point of the fin protruding off the back of the speeder with one hand to avoid falling the 100 meters to the next level of traffic. Half a second later, however, his stomach climbed into his throat as the speeder took a sickening nosedive off the skyway and dove down and across half a dozen other lanes, finally leveling out two levels down, cutting into a skyway almost as busy as the one they'd just left. Hanging precariously by the grip of one hand, Obi-Wan threw a glance over his left shoulder as he swung one leg up in an attempt to climb onto the back of the speeder. The glance was just enough to show him the shining quarter panel of a large, boxy hauler heading straight for him as his speeder slewed around in a dizzyingly out of control manner. Screams and the thunder of crashing metal and thrumming repulsorlifts straining filled Obi-Wan's ears in a cacophony of epic proportions for a few seconds. Obi-Wan's lower half was suddenly under crushing pressure; then mercifully, everything faded to black.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: many thanks to my (2) reviewers. your kind words and encouragement are always appreciated. without further ado, the next chapter.

A Great Start to a Stellar Relationship

by JediDreams

I own nothing.

Anakin was rooted to the spot while he watched Obi-Wan's body flying through the air. The speeder that hit him swerved and swung wildly, knocking into other vehicles before swerving off the edge of the skyway and careening downward. Someone screamed. Anakin stared. For just a second, he had seen Obi-Wan's face as he sailed over top of the speeder, arms reaching for his head in a seemingly vain attempt to protect it. The man's teeth were clenched, his eyes squeezed tight in reflex; the look was one of sheer pain. But as he flew through the air, Obi-Wan had been eerily silent. The scream had come from one of the onlookers as the crowds on either side of the skyway pressed backwards to be out of the way of vehicles trying to squeeze past the out of control speeder. In seconds, both skyways were blocked beyond belief. And somewhere in the midst of the wrecked speeders and smoking debris below was Obi-Wan.

Anakin tried to rip himself free of the confining hands that held him back. Someone was talking to him, but he couldn't understand what they were saying. Horror like he'd never known gripped him, with a sudden rush of terror like a river of ice running over the back of his neck. He struggled harder, and finally the hands let him go. The voice still chased him.

"Stay on the skyway, kid! Don't leave the platform, they haven't activated the safety field yet!"

Anakin had no idea what the man was talking about, but he scrambled across the shining noses of countless tangled skimmers, searching desperately for Obi-Wan as he tried to find a way to get down to the level where the speeder had finally crash-landed. He couldn't put into words the absolute panic he felt, but he knew it was most urgent that he find Obi-Wan. If he found him, the Jedi wouldn't die. If he wasn't there—it would be just like with Qui-Gon, only now he'd really be out of chances.

He'd just finally spotted the edge of a brown cloak far below, snagged on the decorative fin of a skimmer when strong arms grabbed him around the waist and pulled him into the speeder on which he sat. "Hey, lemme go!" he yelled, squirming and kicking. The Twi'lek that held him only shook her head and held tighter.

"It's not safe for you to go to him, small one," she said. "The safety field has not been activated, and there is no safe way for you to get down to that level. And even if you could reach him, you could upset the weight balance and positioning of the speeders that are holding him up, and you could both fall to your deaths. Wait here with me, the medics will be here in another moment, and the field will be activated. Once it is, I will take you down there."

Anakin stared into her red eyes for a long moment, then slumped in defeat. "This is all my fault," he moaned, pressing his face into his hands. The Twi'lek pulled him into her arms, rocking gently and murmuring soothing nothings to him while he tried with moderate success not to burst out sobbing like a baby. It felt like an eternity before medical and police officials arrived and after a brief conversation, an officer waved the woman forward, allowing her to coast down to the crash site. Almost before the speeder had touched down on the extended skyway safety platform, Anakin leaped out and ran to where Obi-Wan lay half buried in debris.

You didn't need to be a paramedic to see that Obi-Wan was badly hurt. The young Jedi lay on his left side, half curled up, his arms hanging in loose, tangled angles. The long brown cloak was bunched and twisted around Obi-Wan's upper body and hooked on the fin of a nearby speeder, and it looked like it was choking him. With trembling fingers, Anakin reached up and unhooked the hood from the tail fin. With that pressure released, Obi-Wan's head and shoulders tumbled to the floor of the safety field. He was bleeding profusely from a cut on his forehead, over his right eye, and he was unconscious. Anakin's stomach did a mighty twist and flop as he considered the probability that Obi-Wan's left leg was never, ever meant to bend like that, and there was more blood seeping through the outer layer of his tunic.

Anakin could feel his insides getting more and more upset as he stared at Obi-Wan's silent form. Just as he was about to lost his lunch completely, a brown cloak fanned him as someone knelt beside him. He looked up to see that it was the Twi'lek woman from the skimmer. Her eyes were sympathetic and kind as she steered him away from the bleeding Jedi.

"It's all right if you need to be sick. Stay right here, just around this corner. Don't move until I come get you, all right young one?" Anakin could only nod as he bent hurriedly to empty his stomach on the skyway. The Twi'lek paused to quickly point out his presence to the driver of the speeder he sat next to before returning to where Obi-Wan lay.

_What an idiot,_ Anakin thought miserably. _Not only am I too slow and stupid, now I got him hurt—maybe even killed (please, not killed!)—and then I don't even notice when the only other person who helps me is a Jedi. Way to go, Mr. Podrace Champion._

Anakin sat for a long time before the Twi'lek Jedi came to get him. Obi-Wan had already been loaded into the back of an ambulance, which was now blasting across higher-up skylanes, sirens wailing. "Come with me, I will take you to the Jedi Temple," she said. Anakin got up to come with her, but stopped when she led him to a police speeder.

"Wait, what about your skimmer?" he asked, feeling confused. The Twi'lek smiled gently but pulled him along.

"Officer Daayanab has kindly offered to return it for me after the traffic is cleared up. The Jedi once did him a service by saving his life, and he is eager to help in any way he can. You must come with me now, though. The ambulance is taking Padawan Kenobi to the Temple now, and you and I must both be present as witnesses to the accident." Anakin gulped as he followed the woman, clutching her offered hand tightly.

"But why are they taking him to the Temple instead of the hospital?" he cried suddenly, fighting her grip once more. "Why aren't they taking him to the hospital? He's hurt, he could die!" The Twi'lek turned and knelt swiftly in front of him.

"Calm yourself, child. Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Jedi Padawan, and it is the custom and arrangement between Jedi and Coruscant police forces that injured Jedi be transported directly to the Temple, provided it is not unreasonably far. If he were on the other side of the planet, Obi-Wan would most likely have been taken to the nearest hospital. We are closer to the Temple, and our Healers are very skilled. But we waste time talking here. Get in the speeder and I'll answer the rest of your questions on the way. We must be going, now."

The police speeder, piloted by the generous Officer Daayanab's partner, got them around the traffic jams and to the Temple in minutes. Ahead, they could see the ambulance unloading Obi-Wan even as they pulled in behind it. Anakin jumped out of the speeder and ran after the medics as they hurried the wounded Jedi into the Temple, leaving the Twi'lek to deal with the police officer. Anakin's progress was halted when the medical team raced through a final set of doors and into the healer's ward. There, a young Bith dressed in Jedi robes barred Anakin's way.

"Sorry, youngling, the trauma ward is off-limits to nonmedical personnel. Only healers are allowed inside. And patients, of course," he added as an afterthought. "You can wait there, if you'd like, but I can't let you in those doors." The Bith pointed out a row of cushioned chairs across the room, but Anakin was too upset to sit still. He stood in front of the doors, gazing longingly at them and wishing he had run just a little bit faster, so that he could have sneaked in with the medical team. A short time later, the Twi'lek Jedi entered the room and spoke quietly to the Bith. Although he hesitated, the Padawan reluctantly allowed Anakin to enter, accompanied by the Twi'lek. The look on the Padawan's face was plainly one of envy as he returned glumly to his deskful of paperwork to be finished.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Many thanks, again, to my reviewers. Even though i rarely respond to each individual review, i do read them and am always happy to see others are reading my silly words.

Short chapter, but to make up for it I am posting 2.

I own Eh'lyeera, no one else.

**A Great Start to a Stellar Relationship**

**by JediDreams**

"Knight Eh'lyeera Taf'tan, with—" the Twi'lek paused, and looked down at Anakin. "What is your name, youngling?" she whispered with a smile that was gentle despite the sharply pointed teeth.

"Anakin Skywalker, ma'am," he answered in a small voice. "Master Obi-Wan is my Master." Eh'Lyeera frowned slightly but straightened up and returned her attention to the Mon Calamari female behind the desk.

"Knight Taf'tan with Ana'kin Sk'y'walker, to see Padawan Ken'obi. He was brought in a few moments ago after being involved in a serious speeder wreck," she finished. Anakin timidly tugged on the Twi'lek Jedi's sleeve. She turned to give him a quizzical look.

"He's not a Padawan anymore, I'm his Padawan," Anakin said apologetically. Eh'lyeera cocked her head to the side.

"What do you mean, you're his Padawan?" she asked, a hard edge entering her voice. _She thinks I'm lying_, Anakin realized. "Obi-Wan Ken'obi is Qui-Gon Jinn's Padawan. Padawans do not take apprentices, Ana'kin Sk'y'walker." _No, she thinks Obi-Wan lied! She thinks he kidnapped me or ran away from Qui-Gon or something!_

"Qui-Gon died," he said shakily. "On Naboo. We were protecting Pad—the Queen, and Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were fighting a guy with a funny lightsaber, and the guy killed Qui-Gon, but then Obi-Wan killed him. And I blew up the droid control ship, but now Obi-Wan's gonna train me to be a Jedi. Qui-Gon was going to, but when he died…well, now Obi-Wan's going to."

Eh'Lyeera Taf'tan stared at Anakin like he had suddenly sprouted a horn in the middle of his forehead. "Qui-Gon is dead?" she whispered. "Qui-Gon Jinn, dead?" At Anakin's solemn nod, she turned away suddenly, one hand pressed to her throat. When she spoke again, her voice was raspy.

"Please do not speak of this," she said to the Calamarian female. "If the Council have not seen fit to make it public news, we should not speak of it. For now, when may we see Padawan—I mean, KnightKenobi?"

The Mon Calamari blinked several times and dashed one webbed hand furtively across her face. "Knight Kenobi is in surgery, and will be for several hours. You may wait over there, in that side room, or you may take the boy to his quarters and wait for a Healer to send word when visitors will be allowed." Knight Taf'tan nodded and placed one hand on Anakin's shoulder, directing him towards the small waiting room the Mon Cal had pointed out.

Anakin had fallen asleep with his head on Eh'lyeera's shoulder when a tall Aqualish Healer stepped quietly into the waiting room.

"Knight Taf'tan?" the Healer asked. At Eh'lyeera's nod, he gestured meaningfully at Anakin with a questioning look.

"He was with Pa—Knight Ken'obi when the accident occurred. He feels responsible, and he wished to be alerted when Knight Ken'obi's condition became known," she explained. The sound of her voice woke Anakin, who then sat up with sleepy eyes.

"Is he ok? Is Master Obi-Wan all right?" he asked eagerly. The Aqualish's expression was unreadable, but he bent down slightly, leaning towards Anakin.

"Knight Kenobi has sustained several serious injuries from the accident. His left leg was shattered, and his hip broken, with some less severe damage done to his right leg and hip. Three vertebrae were cracked, two broken ribs, and muscle laceration in the right shoulder. He also has a severe concussion and a hairline fracture in his skull. There is also damage to his lungs, from the broken ribs, but it is less extensive than it could have been.

"Because of the damage to his spine, Knight Kenobi will require a longer healing period than normal. He is currently resting and sleeping off his anesthetics, after which he will spend some time in bacta therapy. I suggest you retire to your quarters and get some sleep. You will be notified when Knight Kenobi is able to receive visitors." The Healer turned to leave, but Anakin jumped up.

"But can't I just look in at him? I won't bother him, I just want to see him. Please, sir? I just want to know he's ok," the boy cried desperately. Eh'lyeera stood up as well.

"Master Healer, this is Knight Ken'obi's Padawan," she said in a low voice. "If we could just look in the room very quietly, I know Ana'kin and I would be most grateful. I give you my word that we will not disturb your patient." The last was said with a smile. The Healer hesitated for a moment, then finally shrugged his shoulders and gestured for them to follow him.

"Just one moment, and absolute silence. Knight Kenobi's condition is stable, and he will heal, but I do not wish to disturb his progress." Eh'lyeera nodded quickly and grabbed Anakin's hand as they hurried after the Healer.


	4. Chapter 4

As promised, 2 short chapters at once.

I own only my OCs.

**A Great Start to a Stellar Relationship**

**by JediDreams**

Anakin had seen injured people before. You couldn't _not_ see injured people when you came from a planet where slavery ruled and podracing was the sport of choice. So, blood and broken bodies were not new to him. But when he looked at Obi-Wan hovering just above the hospital bed, suspended by gently puffing repulsorjets, his stomach felt like someone had released a flock of spangled yellow flutterby's in it.

The young Jedi Knight laid perfectly flat on his back, arms folded loosely across his abdomen. His eyes were closed, but his face was more tense than usual for someone who was supposed to be anesthetized and recovering from surgery. His left leg was three times its usual size under layers of hard bandages encasing him from hip to toes; another bandage was wrapped lightly around his head, hiding the cut over his eye—which was black and blue. Anakin could see the clean white layers of bandages protecting Obi-Wan's broken ribs as well, and a body-conforming brace wrapped around the back of his pelvis and extending to the back of his neck. Obi-Wan was effectively immobilized.

Anakin thought he might be sick again as he stared at Obi-Wan. _This is all my fault,_ he thought miserably. _My first day on Coruscant as a Jedi Padawan and I almost kill my Master! What a way to make my entrance. I bet all the other Padawans are going to hear about this and they'll prob'ly all hate me before I even start my training. I should have stayed with Padme on Naboo…or with Mom, back on Tatooine._ The small boy was so miserable, he barely even felt Eh'lyeera place her arm around his shoulder in a comforting embrace.

"Come on, Anakin," she murmured, gently prodding him towards the door. "It's time we left Obi-Wan to get his rest. You may stay with me in my quarters tonight, if you'd like, but first we'll have to update the Council on Obi-Wan's condition." Anakin's stomach practically convulsed at the thought of having to face the Council so soon again after Naboo, and his first meeting with them on this very planet. Eh'lyeera sensed his sudden despair and turned to him in surprise. "Surely Obi-Wan hasn't told you enough horror stories about the Council to produce that reaction already?" she teased gently. "Come on, young Sk'y'walker. I already briefed Master Yoda on the accident before we even got in the Healer's ward, and then again while you were asleep. They will want to hear your story, and then I am sure they will allow you to spend the night with me."

Anakin tried to school his drooping shoulders and shuffling steps into a more dignified pace and posture, but he couldn't help dragging his feet as they neared the Council chambers.

"Do we have to talk to them?" he asked, trying not to sound too whiny. "I mean…couldn't we just tell them which Healer to call, or leave a message, or something?" Eh'lyeera smiled gently down at his hopeful face, but shook her head.

"They are already expecting us, Padawan Sk'y'walker. Now come, it will not take long," she said, a touch more sternly. Anakin gulped and tried not to feel so afraid as he followed Eh'lyeera into the open, circular room ringed by the Jedi Council. He remembered all too vividly the last time he had stood in this very room and been told that his destiny did not lay with the Jedi Order. His face burned as the eyes of the entire Jedi Council focused on him. Just in time, he remembered to bow like the graceful Twi'lek Jedi who stood beside him.

"Again you stand before us, Padawan Skywalker. Heard of the accident, we have. Now tell us, you will, what happened." Master Yoda was direct and blunt, with very little in the way of kindness in his gravelly voice. Anakin froze, unable to open his mouth, until he felt Eh'lyeera's fingers gently prodding his back again. A sense of gentle encouragement swirled around him through the Force, and he cleared his throat nervously.

"Well, I, uh, we were walking to the Temple, sirs, and Obi-Wan was ahead of me, but then he stopped and I caught up with him. He told me to stay close to him because we were crossing the skyway, and he said the signal might change any minute and we had to get across with everyone else. And I—I stopped, because I thought…I thought I saw—someone," he said, his voice miserable.

"Who did you think you saw?" Master Windu asked, leaning forward in his chair.

"I—Padme, sir. I mean, Queen Padme—Queen _Amidala._" Anakin squirmed, feeling stupider every second.

"What would Queen Amidala of Naboo be doing on Coruscant now, Padawan Skywalker?" Master Windu continued sternly. "There is much work for her to do in the reconstruction of her own world. It would be imprudent and irresponsible for the Queen to return to Coruscant at this time."

"I know," Anakin admitted miserably. "I just—it looked like her starship on the landing pad, and I just thought for a minute that maybe she came back and I would get to see her again. I didn't mean for Obi-Wan, I mean Master Obi-Wan, to get hurt, honest! It was an accident!" he cried, desperate for the Council to believe him.

"Attentive, a Padawan must be, to his Master at all times," answered Master Yoda, his pointy ears drooping slightly with disappointment. "Gravely injured, Jedi Kenobi is, because of your lack of attention. Others, as well, are injured and their property damaged. Meditate on this, you will, and the Council as well. Decide what must be done. For now, stay with Knight Taf'tan, you will, until Obi-Wan is healed." Eh'lyeera nodded her head once and bowed slightly to signify her acceptance.

"What is the status of young Knight Kenobi?" asked Ki-Adi-Mundi gently. Eh'lyeera turned to address herself to the Jedi Master.

"He is stable and on the way to healing," she replied. "He has many injuries, some serious, but the Healers are confident he will make a full recovery." Anakin saw Council members nodding and relaxing slightly into their chairs at this news, and a curious feeling of relief trickled through the room. Despite their strong mental shielding, it suddenly dawned on Anakin that the Council had been very worried about Obi-Wan.

"Very well. Knight Taf'tan, please take young Skywalker back to your apartments for tonight. In the morning, we will send word as to what will be done with him until Knight Kenobi is healed enough to care for the boy," Mace intoned, his voice still very serious. "As for you, Padawan Skywalker, let this be a lesson to you. In the past, your actions may have affected only your own life, but now you are being trained as a Jedi Knight. What you do with your training and your life will have far-reaching influences on more lives than you will ever realize."


	5. Chapter 5

A Great Start to a Stellar Relationship

by JediDreams

A/N: I don't own it, and Eh'lyeera turned out to be a bigger character than I originally expected for her. She is mine. Also, as a special treat, I am going to actually respond to my reviewers, because they were so kind as to review the story in the first place.

Nelarun: My most faithful reviewer :) This chapter is longer, just for you.

Sakura: I know the hurt Obi-Wan thing's been done to death, but I have to say in my defense that this is just what I saw, rather than a plotline I wanted to borrow. Honestly, that opening craziness is probly the most action that will happen for a while. Obi-Wan's got a lot of convalescing to do.

Wuff: glad you like :)

And now, the story.

Anakin felt his face burning hotly again at Master Windu's stern words. He wished he could just sink through the floor, just to get away from the Council's disappointed and disapproving stares. He bowed his head and nodded, miserably, and when the Council finally dismissed him and Eh'lyeera, it was all he could do to keep from running out the door. Once they had exited the Council chamber, Eh'lyeera placed one slender blue hand on his shoulder to direct him down a long, quiet corridor.

"The Temple is very large, Ana'kin Sk'y'walker," she said calmly. "It helps to orient yourself if you can pick out landmarks to remember locations by." Anakin barely raised his head, looking dully around at the wide, empty corridors. He felt he would much rather slink away with his head down than look up and risk making eye contact with other Jedi, who he was sure would guess his terrible mistake just by looking at him, but his eyes fell on a statue set in an alcove in the wall to his left. It was carved out of heavy, pale white rock, and it was in the shape of a humanoid female dressed in clothing that vaguely resembled the traditional Jedi robes Eh'lyeera wore.

"What's that statue?" he asked, pointing. Eh'lyeera stopped, smiling.

"That is Master Ilsha Devellian, one of the first Jedi Masters of the Order to sit on the Council. When the seat of the galactic government was moved to Coruscant, over a thousand years ago, she was instrumental in building the alliance between the Jedi and the Republic—which was then the Confederacy of Galactic Peoples. In the very earliest days of the Jedi Order and the Confederacy, there was much more of a partnership between the two organizations. The Jedi served, as we do now, as protectors of peace and justice, while the government gave the Jedi free reign to do as we needed, and gave our representatives places of honor in all governmental dealings. A Knight or Master was present for nearly all treaties, negotiations, legislative sessions…our counsel was sought after and respected. We were welcomed even into the Senate chambers when key legislature was being voted on—it was believed that we would help the chancellor to maintain balance and justice in sessions. We were trusted instead of feared."

"Isn't it that way now?" Anakin asked, staring up at the statue. Eh'lyeera sighed deeply as she shook her head.

"How I wish it were. The Republic allows us to run their errands and take part in their negotiations, but more and more often we find ourselves being treated as if we were the personal commandos of the Supreme Chancellor, or his minions. Chancellor Valorum was better about that than some of his predecessors, but the Republic seems to forget all too easily that we live to serve as guardians and protectors, not warriors. And, our words of wisdom and advice are no longer seen wise counsel by many of the Senate, who see events like the Naboo confrontation as evidence the Jedi are interfering with private planetary disputes. And it has been many years since the Jedi were allowed within the chambers of the Senate while in session; questions were raised about the integrity of the Order with our ability to influence the weak-minded." Eh'lyeera's voice was bitter as she finished. Anakin's face took on a comical expression of astonishment, colored by anger and suspicion.

"But the Jedi helped save Naboo!" he cried. "I mean, I destroyed the droid control ship, but Master Qui-Gon and Master Obi-Wan helped save Padme, and they fought the guy with the weird lightsaber. The Trade Federation was already fighting with the Naboo when the Jedi got there, how could they have caused any trouble?" The Twi'lek Jedi Knight smiled sadly down at Anakin, her red eyes betraying her own weary wrestling match with the very questions Anakin was now asking.

"Matters are often more complicated than they appear, Ana'kin," she answered. "Jedi and Senate alike often forget that, but you must remember it. There is always more to the puzzle than meets the eye. Remember that." Turning, Eh'lyeera continued down the corridor, letting her eyes rest on statues and memorials she all too often hurried past, on one errand or another. It did one well, she reflected, to pause every now and then and look on these reminders of the past. History helped one ground the present, which all too frequently seemed to want to fly apart into a million wild, ricocheting soap daggers. Beside her, Anakin trudged silently, his anger still easily apparent as he contemplated the thickheadedness of certain beings in galactic power. He didn't notice at first when Eh'lyeera stopped in front of another statue. Realizing several paces beyond that he was walking alone, he hurried back to her side trying to hide his reddening face.

"I want to show you someone else, Ana'kin," she said, careful not to mention his

complete lack of attention. It would come with practice, she knew, and there was no sense rubbing his nose in it now. Pointing, she directed his attention to a bas-relief etched into the smooth marble of the corridor; the image was of an older, humanoid Jedi with boyish features and a rather sheepish grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. He stood in a properly formidable pose of preparation, but the mischievous glint in his eyes looked so real Anakin almost expected the image to wink at him.

"Who's that?" he asked.

"That is Jedi Master Bartemius Caravah, also known as Bartemy the _Blumf_." Anakin screwed up his face in confusion.

"But doesn't _blumf _mean 'clumsy fool' in Ortolan?" he asked, trying not to sound too stupid. "Why would a Jedi Master be called a clumsy fool?" Now it was Eh'lyeera's turn to smirk mischievously.

"Why, indeed," she said mysteriously. "I believe the story goes that Master Caravah was on a mission to Ortola, to aid one of the planetary governors in negotiating with the United Farmers Coalition, who were on strike until the government agreed to provide them with more ample compensation for their labors. The negotiations were, as I understand, something of a disaster." Anakin stared at her.

"What happened?" he asked eagerly. The Twi'lek's smirk widened into a grin.

"Well, Master Caravah arrived on Ortola with no major problems, but the moment negotiations began, he made one faux pas after another, beginning with his accidental insult to the governor with whom he was supposed to rendezvous. Master Caravah was never particularly good with languages…but he refused the interpreter droid when the Council offered it to him, saying he felt there were quite enough intermediaries without adding a droid to the mix. I'm sure hindsight provided more than adequate vision levels for that decision…anyway, Master Caravah arrived on Ortola and promptly greeted the governor. What he thought he said was, 'Hail the respected governor of Ortola, on behalf of the Jedi Knights. I come to act as a negotiator.' What came out was more along the lines of, 'Hurl the receptacle of Ortolan _gubelsnatch_, with love from the Jedi Fights. I clumsily fool with nefarious actors.'" At this point, Eh'lyeera's precariously maintained Jedi calm flew to the winds as she nearly doubled over laughing. Anakin goggled at her.

"But _gubelsnatch_ is Ortolan for—um, waste products!" he gasped, clapping a hand over his mouth to stifle his own giggles. "He actually called the governor a waste receptacle? What did the governor do?" Eh'lyeera regained her composure but continued to smile, a faint pink hue showing underneath her blue skin.

"Well, the governor's first response was of fury, but when he looked at Master Caravah's face, he realized what had happened. You see, Caravah had no clue he'd just insulted the governor. He thought he'd done quite well in offering a polite and neutral greeting!" She grinned again, and Anakin mirrored the expression. "Well, it only took a moment to figure out what had happened, and the governor quickly sent for a droid before Master Caravah could greet the Coalition representative. Ortolans are generally very gentle creatures, but when provoked far enough they turn violent—no different from most of the galaxy's peoples.

"Fortunately for Master Caravah, the governor found the incident highly amusing, and the rest of the mission went much more smoothly. The Council, as you may imagine, was not so amused, but Master Caravah told the story for years afterward, as a lesson in humility, but also as a lesson not to take ourselves so seriously. After he died, this relief was etched in his memory and as a testament to those lessons." Eh'lyeera finished and looked back up at the bas-relief. "It's a lesson I think some of us need to be reminded of more than others."

Anakin huffed.

"Yeah, someone should make the Council come down here and look at this thing," he muttered, folding his arms across his chest. Instantly realizing how arrogant he had just sounded, his eyes darted to Eh'lyeera's in alarm. "Oops, I mean, uh…"

The Twi'lek Knight hid a half smile.

"The Council have many weighty matters on their minds, and their shoulders bear the burdens of all the Order, who bear the weight of the galaxy. If they are strict and serious, it is not without reason, young Sk'y'walker," she intoned mildly. "That said, it probably would not do them any harm to remember that all Jedi make mistakes, and the wisest ones often make the most and biggest—and if they are truly wise, they will learn the most from them." She glanced down at Anakin again, who was studying his feet.

"I just feel like…like I'll never be good enough for them," the boy mumbled dejectedly. "They already don't like me, and now they probly never will, because it's my fault Obi-Wan got hurt. Why did they let me stay, if they're always going to be mad at me about something?" Eh'lyeera's mouth tightened in a slight frown. Reaching down, she placed one long-nailed finger gently under Anakin's chin and tilted his head back to look at her face.

"The life of a Jedi Knight is a hard one, Padawan Sk'y'walker," she said very seriously. "You have come into it at a different place from any other Padawan in the Temple. The way of the Order is to raise Jedi hopefuls nearly from birth, so that they are given every chance to learn and develop their abilities in a place that is safe, nurturing, and understanding. When the time comes for their life paths to be chosen, they are either taken as Padawans, apprenticed to Master Healers, or trained in the Agricorps, where their skills are used to heal ailing plant life. You have skipped all those years, and all those levels, and many an Initiate in this Temple would give their dominant limb to trade places with you.

"Others, perhaps the wiser of them, would not. While you have leaped ahead into a higher level and—some would say—more privileged position, you are also under a great deal more responsibility than any other Force-sensitive that enters this Temple for the first time. The infants who arrive here enter with the weight of the worlds on their shoulders for something they cannot control—their Force sensitivity. Along with that, you have the pressure of being behind your age-mates in terms of training. It will be a long and difficult road, Ana'kin. But if it is your destiny, the Force will help and guide you to accomplish all you must. You have a good master; Obi-Wan Kenobi has fought his own battles as an Initiate and a Padawan Learner, and now he will journey into new places with you as your master. If it is the will of the Force, Obi-Wan will see that you receive the best training the Temple can offer."

Anakin wasn't sure if Eh'lyeera's speech made him feel better or worse. From the way everyone acted, Obi-Wan was a well-known and much respected Jedi, even though he'd been just a Padawan when he left the Temple last. Other Padawans might envy him being apprenticed to such a popular, and evidently powerful, Knight. That made Anakin feel good, smug, proud. On the other hand, they might think him unworthy of such a great master, seeing how badly he had screwed things up right from the very beginning. He had hoped that life as a Jedi might be easier than life as a slave. If it was his destiny, why should it be so hard? Shouldn't the Force be paving the way for him? He felt like he'd already paid his dues in hardship back on Tatooine.

"Qui-Gon thought I was the Chosen One. Does that mean all this is supposed to be easier for me somehow, or harder?" he asked tentatively. Eh'lyeera started and frowned a little.

"Master Jinn told you he thought you were the Chosen One?" she asked, sounding surprised and a little angry.

"Well, not to me directly, exactly, but I heard him tell the Council he thought I was. What does that even mean?" he hedged. Eh'lyeera's frown disappeared, but she instantly became more distant, pulling back physically and inwardly. Anakin felt her warm, strange presence pull back and wrap around her.

"It was not wise of Master Jinn to make such an unfounded and unproven statement where any ears could hear it," was all she said. Then, "Come, Ana'kin. It grows late, and you must be exhausted. My apartment is unfortunately on the other side of the Temple, so we'd better get moving along so that you can get something to eat and then rest." With that, Anakin understood the discussion to be closed, but it did nothing to calm his curiosity. Obviously this "Chosen One" business was a touchy subject with Eh'lyeera and apparently Jedi in general. Clearly, this meant he should investigate the subject.


	6. Chapter 6

A Great Start to a Stellar Relationship

by JediDreams

Sakura: Thanks so much for your awesome reviews! I'm glad you like what's come out so far. From here on out it may be a bit rocky...I've never read the JA books so any characters I may borrow from it are based on what I've read of them in other fanfics...lame, I know. Hope you like the rest!

Nel: Glad you like :)

Obviously, I don't own it. Only Eh'lyeera.

_Pain. Lots of pain._

Everything swam in hazy gray fuzz that blanketed his senses. He felt heavy, and his limbs were anchored to the suffocating softness at his back. He struggled against the relentless gray weight holding him down, trying to call out for help. The syllables resounded in his head, but when he tried to speak, they only grated in his throat in a helpless little croak. He tried to turn his head but he was pinned. He groaned again, trying with all his strength to fight himself free of the weight holding him prisoner. Every futile movement brought fresh throbbing to every part of his body. His head felt like there was an entire herd of stampeding banthas trapped inside, and his spine felt like he'd been skewered with his own lightsaber.

Master. His Master would help him, if only he could get his attention. He tried again to open his mouth and speak, and found he couldn't. His tongue weighed about a kilo, and it lay in his mouth like so much duracrete. Far away, he thought he heard a voice mumbling something that might have been a name. He tried to respond. His duracrete tongue struggled, and finally a slurred sound escaped.

"_Uiiii-gaahh…"_

"Well, that's a start," the voice murmured, although his ears couldn't be sure what he was hearing. Something cold touched his forehead and then his neck, and then he felt a sharp sting in the side of his neck. The heaviness dissipated enough for him to swallow sluggishly—for a miracle, his salivary glands weren't quite as heavily weighed down as the rest of him. "There you go, that's a little better," the distant voice encouraged. "Let's try taking a peek at the waking world, huh Master I-Don't-Look-Both-Ways-Before-Crossing-The-Street?"

He felt the voice pulling him through the murky gray thickness, and he struggled to respond. Putting all his effort into lifting his eyelids, he managed to slit them open a crack on the third try. His eyes were instantly assailed by bright lights, but before he squeezed them shut again, he caught a blurry glimpse of the mysterious speaker.

"_Buhhh…"_ he groaned, trying to make his lips move and ultimately failing. The speaker laughed.

"Try again, kiddo. Here, let me give you a little helper, clear the cobwebs out of that brain of yours." There was another cold prick in the side of his neck, and suddenly he felt the weight rushing out of his limbs and off his chest. He gasped and his eyes flew open, only to be blinded again by the lights overhead. His face scrunched up as he tried to turn his face away from the light, but his head still seemed to be trapped. Behind his eyelids, he sensed the light dimming, and a cool hand touched his forehead.

"Easy, killer," the voice said a little more gently. "I didn't expect you to respond so quickly to that second infuser. Give yourself a minute to reorient yourself to the land of the living; you've been out of it a while."

"Bant." This time his tongue worked, although he kept his eyes closed.

"Congratulations, you have correctly guessed what lies behind door number one!" the Calamarian Healer crowed, throwing her webbed hands into the air in a mock victory gesture. "Welcome back, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan Kenobi slowly opened his eyes again, squinting against even the dimmed lights. Bant's long, salmon-colored face swam across his field of vision, still blurry but at least recognizable. She was grinning, but her eyes betrayed her true feelings. He could sense the concern and the relief hovering around her like a staticky cloud. He forced his stiff facial muscles into a small ghost of a smile.

"How long have I been out?" he croaked, his throat still rusty from disuse.

"Two weeks," she replied, leaning over him to check one of the many bandages imprisoning most of his body. "And it's about time you woke up. We were getting ready to call in Master Yoda to whack you awake with that stick of his."

"What happened?" he mumbled. Bant frowned slightly as she reached for a cup on the stand next to Obi-Wan's bed.

"You apparently had the brilliant idea to run out into the middle of rush-hour traffic on the skyway and get yourself turned into a skycrash derby contestant. I'm sorry to have to tell you, you lost." Another ghostly grin touched the corner of Obi-Wan's mouth as he chuckled through a dry throat. "Here, see how much of this you can get down." Obi-Wan opened his mouth and sipped at the chilled water gratefully. Mid-swallow, he suddenly gasped and nearly wound up choking on the liquid.

"Easy, easy!" Bant exclaimed, reaching a Force-tendril through his throat to clear the blocked airway. "We just got you back this side of being One with the Force, what're you trying to go back there for?"

"Anakin," he rasped, coughing. "Where's Anakin? Is he all right? Where is he?" Bant pursed her lips as she reached for a drying cloth to clean the excess water from where it had spilled down Obi-Wan's chest.

"Relax, will you? He's fine, the Council put him in the custody of Eh'lyeera Taf'tan until you're well enough to take over. He's been tagging along with her when he's not in classes. He's usually in here two or three times a day wanting to see you. I get the idea he thinks this whole accident was his fault. You wouldn't have any idea why that might be, would you?" she asked, arching the area that normally held an eyebrow on most humanoids. Obi-Wan closed his eyes briefly, letting his head sink back into the firmness that supported it.

"We were walking to the Temple, and I told him to keep up with me as we crossed the skyway. He stopped in the middle and I turned around to bring him along, but before I could get him back to the sidewalks, the signal changed and traffic started moving again. I shoved him out of the way and tried to jump, but…there were just too many vehicles. I think I grabbed onto one and hung on for a while, but after that I can't really remember." Bant sighed.

"Well, that sounds about right. Just to catch you up a little further, you were rushed here in a med-evac and chased down by the little sand demon, and you underwent about 12 hours of surgery in three parts, and you were weighted down for the first few days before spending the next 11 days in bacta. We didn't dare let you wake up for fear you'd start trying to move and break all your bones again before we were ready to let you. We finally pulled you out this morning and decided to risk a couple hours of consciousness to see how you're doing. So, how are you doing?"

Obi-Wan took a moment to check himself over through the Force before answering Bant.

"Better now than when I first woke up," he answered, relieved that his headache had receded with the second infuser. There was still a deep ache in his spine and all through his left leg, but it was nothing he couldn't deal with through the ever-so-handy Force techniques of pain suppression. Bant nodded.

"You'll still be achy for a while, and you're not done in bacta yet, but with some physical therapy you should regain all your normal strength and range of motion. It's going to be a slow process, though; you did a lot of damage to your spine. For a while there it was touch and go whether or not you'd be moving independently again, but your spinal cord appears to have survived intact. Still, we're not taking any risks on you. Eh'lyeera will just have to stem her impatience and put up with that little imp a while longer, till you're good and ready to go running around the Temple with him."

Obi-Wan grimaced at the thought of more time in a bacta tank. He could taste the stuff on his breath now, and any more time in there would surely leave him oozing the greenish liquid from his pores for weeks. But it was better than the alternative—he could not spend six months healing the old-fashioned way, and he didn't have a strong enough understanding of Force healing to try it on himself for such severe and sustained injuries. He would just have to put up with a few more days of the annoyance of floating around a transparent tank in his underwear.

He and Bant talked for a few more minutes before she reluctantly left to check on her other patients. Obi-Wan lay suspended still above his bed, staring at the ceiling thoughtfully. When he'd first started to come to, his thoughts had been all for his master. Apparently, the part of his brain that was so acutely sensitive to the fact his master was now dead had come to life more slowly than the rest of him. Closing his eyes, Obi-Wan breathed through the swell of grief that came with the thought of Qui-Gon Jinn, now no more than a spreading of ashes across one of Naboo's lovely waterfalls. He felt so guilty; even though the rational part of him argued weakly that he had done his best against a cunning and evil enemy, he could not help blaming himself for being too slow, too stupid, too easily thrown aside to save his master. Qui-Gon had been a great Jedi and a great Master, despite his penchant for disregarding the rules that Obi-Wan rather liked to live by. A very small voice in his mind whispered that it would be better for all involved if he had been killed too, but he pushed it away almost immediately. He had duties and obligations to fulfill, not the least to a small slave boy from Tatooine, now for better or for worse a member of the brotherhood of the Jedi. He had given his word to Qui-Gon that he would train Anakin, and he would not allow his grief to absorb him so fully that he shamed them both by breaking it.

Several hours passed in such silent meditation, and Obi-Wan almost didn't register his shy visitor at first. Without opening his eyes, Obi-Wan sent a light tendril of thought towards the door, and the small figure standing in it.

"Come in, Anakin. It's all right, I'm awake." He heard the sound of booted feet trotting across the floor, and then a warm breath on his face. Obi-Wan opened his eyes a fraction to see Anakin standing beside the bed, his face an odd mix of worry, guilt, and relief. There was also fear there, and of more than one kind. Obi-Wan exerted all his strength to lift his right arm slightly in a beckoning gesture. "It's all right, Anakin. I'm not going to scold you. I expect you've had plenty of that from the Council already." The young Knight felt rather than saw Anakin's miserable nod, but he more keenly sensed the flare of irritation at the mention of the Council.

"They told me I should have been paying more attention to you and this wouldn't have happened. I'm sorry, Master! I didn't mean to get distracted, I didn't mean for you to get hurt! Please don't die," the boy begged in a sudden flood of emotion. Obi-Wan forced his eyes to open most of the way as Anakin grabbed his right hand tightly in both of his smaller ones.

"I assure you, Padawan, I have no intention of dying just yet. But the Council is right; you must learn to focus your attention on the task at hand without sacrificing your awareness of the world around you. There are many distractions in the galaxy, and you'll just have to learn to tune them out, or results may be even less pleasant than they currently are." Exhausted, Obi-Wan let his eyes fall closed again, but not before he caught the resigned look on Anakin's face.

"That's what everyone's been telling me. But I don't get it, Master, how am I supposed to pay attention to everything but not pay attention to everything at the same time?" he asked in a petulant tone.

"Understanding will come with practice, my Padawan. Don't worry, you'll get plenty of that as soon as I am well. I think now, though, you had better go. Bant has threatened me with more bacta-diving, and I think I hear her coming down the hall. Better run before she decides you could use a dip to heal that bruise on your arm."

Anakin's mixed astonishment, amusement, and evident fear of Bant washed over Obi-Wan as he hastily backed away from the hospital bed and made for the door, tugging his sleeve down over the large purple welt on his arm, a gift from a more experienced sparring partner. Anakin hesitated at the door, checking to make sure Bant was not yet in sight, and loudly whispered to Obi-Wan one more time before dashing away.

"I'm sorry I was a bad Padawan, Master." As he turned away from the door, Obi-Wan barely caught the rest of his words. "I promise I'll be perfect next time."


	7. Chapter 7

A Great Start to a Stellar Relationship

by JediDreams

Author's note: Hey look, it's a new chapter! Sorry for the lag, it's a super busy time at both my jobs, plus a rather severe emotional crisis with a loved one. This may be the last chapter of what I'd already had written up, as I want to change some of what I have because I don't like where it's going. But we'll see….stories often have a way of telling themselves regardless of what the author wants.

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"All right, enough chit-chat. Time to get you back in your undies and back in the tank. Who's ready for their next session of bacta-diving?" Bant called in cheery sing-song voice. Obi-Wan groaned theatrically, shaking his head.

"No, no more bacta-diving," he begged. "I promise I'll look both ways before crossing next time, just don't make me get back in that tank!"

"Oh, quit whining, you big baby. It's not that bad."

"Easy for you to say, you haven't spent the last two weeks floating around in it."

"You weren't even conscious!"

"No, but I was still in there for two weeks. I think I'm going to have permanent wrinkle-skin to rival Master Yoda by the time I'm done." Bant laughed out loud at that.

"I'll be sure and let him know how excited you are to be replacing him as the most wrinkled Jedi in history. Now, be quiet and let me get you ready for the tank."

Obi-Wan groaned again but lay still so that Bant could exchange his heavy bandages and back brace for lighter weight materials that would allow the healing goop to soak through and do its work. When he finally got out of the tank again four days later, he felt much better. He had made good use of his time, spending most of it in a deep healing trance, doing everything in his power to speed the process along. Bant came to see him again once he had been re-situated in his recovery room.

"Well, you actually look more alive than dead this time," the healer wisecracked, checking his vitals and noting the alertness in his face.

"I must confess, I do feel a bit closer to the living side of the Force than I did before," he replied, arching his back slightly to adjust his position on the bed.

"Hey, hey, easy with that!" Bant protested. "Your back is in a lot better shape than it was when they brought you in, but you're going to have to go easy for a while yet. We're going to let you rest and un-wrinkle yourself for the rest of today, but tomorrow we need to check the spine support they put in during your last surgery and fit you for a brace."

Obi-Wan opened his mouth to argue against the necessity of such precautions, but closed it again when Bant held up a hand that looked suspiciously like a smack-in-waiting.

"I'm not done yet," she said sternly. "You're going to be using a hoverchair for the first week or two, and a cane after that. Don't you give me that look, Obi-Wan Kenobi! If you want to be able to walk more or less upright when you're done training Anakin, do what I tell you. Do you have any idea how much damage you did to yourself? You could easily have died, or been paralyzed for the rest of your life. Count your blessings and take it slow. You'll be back on your feet and in shape in a couple of months."

"A couple of months!" Obi-Wan cried, unable to stop himself. "I have a brand-new Padawan to train, I can't be incapacitated for a couple of months! I've already lost nearly a full month with him already! What is Anakin supposed to do while I float around the Temple?" Now Bant looked really angry.

"You can start by learning a little patience and a little humility," she snapped. "In case you hadn't noticed, you're alive. You should thank the Force for that; by all rights, you should have died in that wreck. Anakin has been getting along just fine, annoying everyone in the temple with Eh'Lyeera just as much as he would with you. The Council have not abandoned him, they've been working with him individually while you healed. They also made a point of stopping in to insist that you take your time and heal properly. I'm sure you can find things to teach him that don't involve leaping around the room like a Kowakian monkey-lizard on glitterstim! You might also think about setting a good example for him in the art of taking care of yourself so that he knows how to take care of others when they need it. Maybe you could even do a little bonding like most Masters and Padawans do, when they get around to it. Maybe you could give your friends at the temple a break from worrying about you all the time." The healer broke off abruptly, adjusting the brace on Obi-Wan's leg rather more roughly than she needed to.

"Bant." She refused to look up at him and continued to yank the brace around. "Bant, I'm pretty sure the bones are healed, but I don't think it's necessary to test that out by re-breaking them." Bant whirled to face him, angry tears standing out in her eyes.

"You really don't understand, do you?" she asked. "I care about you, Obi-Wan, and so do others here in the temple. You scared us half to death. And now you want to rush off into some new thing where you can just go get yourself beat up all over again. Just because you can't spar with Anakin right away doesn't mean he won't need you to teach him other things. Jedi Knights aren't supposed to be warriors first and foremost, remember? We're supposed to be negotiators and peacemakers. I'm sure there are plenty of things you can teach him about that." Obi-Wan sighed.

"You're right, Bant, as usual. I'm sorry, I know you just want to protect me, but you know I can't stand just sitting around. I mean, I meditate, but there's just too much…just too much going on inside for me to have to sit still and deal with it all right now. I need to be able to work it out. I won't be doing Anakin or anyone else any favors by spending the next couple of months sitting around. There's danger in the galaxy, Bant, and I can't just sit here and let it grow. I don't want to be caught unprepared again. Last time it cost me a master. I won't let it cost me a Padawan."

Bant's angry expression softened at the quiet grief in her friend's voice.

"It wasn't your fault that Qui-Gon died," she said quietly, taking his hand. "You fought well, Obi. No one could or does blame you for what happened. It was a Sith, for crying out loud! No one has fought a Sith in centuries, not even Master Yoda. You're the first Jedi to fight and kill one in a thousand years. You have nothing to be ashamed of, Obi-Wan." He shook his head slowly.

"If I'd been faster, if I'd fought better, Master and I wouldn't have got separated, and we'd have been able to finish him together. Master would still be alive if I'd been more prepared for…" His voice trailed off and his face took on a look of frustration.

"If you'd been more prepared for what?" Bant demanded, looking hard at him. "You couldn't have been any more prepared than you were, Obi-Wan. From the sounds of it, the two of you weren't able to do much damage when you did work together. It was only when you were fighting him one on one that you were able to destroy him. The Force was with you, Obi-Wan. Maybe it meant for you to be the one who trained Anakin, and that's just how it had to be. Who else, still a Padawan, could have done that? You're an incredible swordsman, you know that, but you have a grasp of the Force and an understanding of its direction that rivals anyone on the Council. You'll be a good master for him, Obi. Don't be afraid of that." His strange sea-colored eyes met hers with a look of surprise and a hint of embarrassment.

"Once again, you put your finger right on what I couldn't see. I _am_ afraid I won't be a good enough master for him. Anakin is very gifted, but I fear for him. Coming so late to the Jedi, he's going to have a lot working against him. And his upbringing was hardly an ideal way to start one's life. He's learned to manipulate and charm as well as he has learned to pilot, and he's learned to be proud of those talents—a dangerous combination for a Jedi." Bant nodded soberly. "What if I can't do it? What if I can't help him get through those bumps in the road? I shouldn't even be a master, I should barely be a Knight, going on solo missions and finding my niche! What was the Council thinking, allowing me to take on a Padawan—and this of all Padawans?" He shook his head again in frustration. "I just don't know."

"Obi," Bant said in a low voice, taking his hand in both of hers. "Look at me. If you weren't ready to be the master Anakin needs, the Force wouldn't have allowed it to happen this way. This is your destiny, this is the path you were meant to walk…or, for the next few weeks, float." A wry smirk tweaked the corner of her mouth. "You'll be all right, Obi-Wan. I know you will. And the better you follow the healer's orders, the all right-er you'll be. Starting with 'smile and let me put on your back brace,' of course." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes but complied.

"You're a good friend, Bant," he said softly as she reached around him to move the light brace into place along his spine.

"I know," she answered briskly, but with a smile that was genuine. "Now let's find you a hover chair that'll fit your big butt."

"I resent that implication."

"Implication, shmimplication, I had to help them lift you in and out of the bacta tank, I know how heavy you are."

"That's what you get for making me eat like a starving Wookiee every time I come home."

"See if I try and keep you healthy anymore!"

The two friends shared a comfortable laugh as Bant ruffled Obi-Wan's spiky hair. _Next order of business,_ he decided, _is to do something about this ridiculous haircut._

"All right, don't go anywhere and I'll get your chair." As Bant left the room, Obi-Wan relaxed as much as possible into the brace that kept his spine just slightly straighter than he normally stood. _Good thing Qui-Gon was always so particular about maintaining good posture, or this would be REALLY annoying._


	8. Chapter 8

A Great Start to a Stellar Relationship

by JediDreams

Sorry it's taken me forever to update...I'm not really crazy about how this chapter ends, so it may be revised at some point, but for now...here's some new stuff.

"Master Obi-Wan!"

The Knight in question couldn't help but smile at the excited squeal that cut through the chatter of the cafeteria as he entered in his hover chair. He still felt completely foolish, floating around the Temple like some decrepit old creature three decades past its prime, but at least he was out of the infirmary. While he mused on this, Anakin jumped up from his seat at a table near the middle of the room and raced over to Obi-Wan, beaming.

"You're finally here!" he cried unnecessarily, dancing from foot to foot with happiness. "I _knew_ Bant would get you here!" The face-splitting grin turned upward to the smirking Mon Calamarian healer standing behind Obi-Wan's chair, and she winked back at the eager child.

"Yes, Anakin, I am indeed here, in the middle of the exceptionally crowded cafeteria, making my appearance and looking appropriately crippled," Obi-Wan answered dryly, but with a smile.

"Well, now that we have established Obi-Wan's presence in the cafeteria, let's make some use of this visit and get some food," Bant interrupted loudly, giving the chair a shove towards the food line. "Quit looking so self-conscious, Obi-Wan, there really aren't that many people in here."

"Yes, but they're all staring at me," the Knight muttered, reddening. Bant rolled her eyes.

"Set an example for your apprentice and show him how to be a big, brave Jedi Knight and face down all those intimidating younglings, with their staring eyes," she retorted caustically. Obi-Wan gave her a mean look, which she completely ignored as she pushed the chair forward again.

"Your tenderness and compassion is overwhelming, as usual," he grunted, touching the chair's controls and pushing it forward before she could push it again. "I still don't know what you mean by dragging me to the main cafeteria for lunch when I could just have easily have made it in the comfort and _privacy_ of my apartment," he growled, reaching up to take a tray and begin filling it.

"I dragged you here because if I hadn't, you would have just stayed in your comfortable, private apartment for the next two months until you were completely healed, and none of the rest of us would have seen you until then," she replied unconcernedly, scooping a large pile of steamy puffed taters onto Obi-Wan's tray before taking some for herself.

"And just what's so wrong with that plan?" Obi-Wan asked peevishly, frowning at the pile of puffed taters.

"What's wrong with that, Obi-Wan, is that some of us would like to see you every now and then, and you need to get reacquainted with the normality of Temple life, since you're going to be here for a while," she said, threatening him with an unappetizing mess of strangely colored vegetables. Obi-Wan made a face at their unique aroma and directed the chair forward to get out of scooping range.

"I'm glad you're out here with the rest of us now," Anakin murmured shyly from his place beside Obi-Wan. Surprised, the Knight turned to look at his young Padawan. The former slave boy from Tattooine was watching him earnestly, his blue eyes glued on Obi-Wan's while he twisted his fingers together behind his back. The boy had been so quiet during his and Bant's verbal sparring that Obi-Wan had momentarily forgotten about him.

"Thank you, Anakin," he said gently. He felt absurdly touched by the knowledge that his apprentice—this child he barely knew—had been awaiting his return. Of course, it made perfect sense; Obi-Wan was now the closest thing Anakin had to a parent figure, and he would be looking for someone to replace the mother he'd left behind; and besides, Obi-Wan could sense Anakin's lingering guilt over being the cause of his injuries in the first place. "Well, shall we find somewhere to eat?" he asked, glancing around the cafeteria in search of a free table.

"Over here!" Anakin called, running towards the table he'd been sitting at when his master had arrived. As they approached the table, a small handful of other padawans jumped up from their seats, goggling at Obi-Wan as he glided towards them in the hover chair.

"That's your master?" one of them stage whispered to Anakin, who nodded and grinned. "Whoa, Ani, what'd you do to him?" another one snickered. Anakin's face turned bright red, and his eyes darkened in anger, but he was cut off from responding by Bant.

"And where is your master, Padawan Chobis?" she asked sharply. "I'm sure she has a few lessons to refresh your memory on, such as respect for your peers and for ranked Jedi such as Master Kenobi here." The orange toned Padawan's eyes widened and his flesh darkened with embarrassment.

"Forgive me, Healer Bant, Master Kenobi," Chobis gasped. "I meant no disrespect, Master." Obi-Wan said nothing but nodded and frowned slightly. The other padawans gathered up their trays and quickly made their exits before Bant's angry eye fell on them. Anakin watched them go, glaring at the openly curious looks they shot towards Obi-Wan, sitting bolt upright in the hover chair.

"Idiots," Anakin muttered, plopping ungracefully into the seat he'd been occupying when Obi-Wan had entered the room. "Stupid Chobis just loves making fun of me for getting Master Obi-Wan hurt my first day here. The others keep arguing with me and saying you're just a Senior Padawan and not really a Knight." He kicked his feet moodily under the table, while Obi-Wan turned his frown towards Bant.

"That really wasn't necessary," he said in a low voice. "Anakin could have managed the conversation, and you really had no place chiding the other as if he was your own Padawan." The healer opened her mouth to retort, but Obi-Wan had already turned his attention back to Anakin. "And as for you, my young apprentice, what happened was an accident and cannot be changed. You must learn to change what you can control, which includes your attitude and your response to others around you. Next time Padawan Chobis tries to bait you, don't let him. If you allow him to make you angry, you open a door through which the Dark Side of the Force can begin to infiltrate your heart and turn you down the dark path. You must learn to recognize your anger, and release it into the Force, where it can no longer poison you."

Anakin looked skeptical.

"But he's telling all the other padawans that I shouldn't even be here because I'm too old to start Jedi training but too young to be a Padawan, and that I must be really dumb because I don't know anything about the Force, and everyone gets hurt around me, and the other padawans say I scare them because I get mad and they never do." Inwardly, Obi-Wan grimaced. Anakin had never come across as a particularly angry child to him, but there was still an aura of unclear but certain danger about him. As he focused on Anakin's Force-signature now, he could feel anger pulsing just beneath the surface in a dark cloud.

"Well, you'll simply have to prove him wrong," Obi-Wan found himself saying, his voice lilting as a faint smile lifted his tired face. Anakin's face scrunched up in surprise and confusion.

"But how do I do that? He's right, I don't know anything about the Force and I do get mad when they make fun of me." The smile stayed on Obi-Wan's face.

"You will learn, Anakin. Now, I could be wrong, but I have a feeling that young Padawan Chobis has a few things yet to learn himself. Be patient, Anakin. You aren't called "Padawan _learners_" for nothing." Anakin still looked doubtful, but a hint of hope had entered his face.

"Come on, Anakin. Finish your meal and then come with me. We'll need to go get your things from Knight Taf'tan's quarters if you're going to move in with me."

Tatooine's twin suns could not have shone brighter at full noon than Anakin's face when Obi-Wan said that.

"Really?" he asked excitedly, jumping up from his seat. "You don't have to go back to the Healer's wing? Wizard!" He couldn't stop grinning and bouncing up and down. Obi-Wan chuckled at his apprentice's excitement.

"Yes, really. Bant has finally given up on making me a permanent resident and given her official permission for me to return to my quarters. So, after lunch we'll go collect your things from Eh'lyeera and move you in." Anakin sat down abruptly and began shoveling food into his mouth until he gagged. Bant reached across the table and whacked the boy solidly between the shoulder blades.

"Easy, kiddo, you'll never get to move anywhere if you choke yourself to death," she said. Red-faced, Anakin slowed down just enough to chew and swallow. Obi-Wan laughed again, taking a bite of his own food. A few bites later, he was finished. Bant stared pointedly at the mostly full plate, but Obi-Wan merely shook his head slightly. It had been over a month since he'd eaten a normal, full meal, but his stomach was still on uneasy terms with the rest of him from his prolonged stay in bacta. It would be another day or two before he was ready to eat a regular meal. He could feel Bant's worry for him, but he couldn't bring himself to eat any more.

Ten seconds later, Anakin shoved a last heaping spoonful of puffed taters into his mouth and gulped it down.

"Ok, I'm ready!" he gasped, jumping up again. Obi-Wan smiled and backed his hover chair away from the table as Bant gathered up the empty dishes and carried them over to the cleaning and disposal unit.

"Well then, let's go," Obi-Wan answered. The trio made their way through the corridors towards Eh'lyeera's apartment. Fifteen minutes later, they arrived in front of her door.

"Here, I know the code," Anakin said, reaching up to key it in. Obi-Wan grabbed his hand and stopped him.

"No, Anakin. It would be very impolite for the three of us to simply go waltzing into Eh'lra's apartment without knocking first." Anakin pulled his arm away from Obi-Wan and reached up to ring the door bell instead. A moment later, the door swished open and Eh'lyeera's voice called, "Enter!" from inside.

"Obi-Wan, it is good to see you awake and looking well," the Twi'lek Jedi said with a warm smile as she stood up and approached them. Obi-Wan smiled as he looked up at her and inclined his head in a small bow. She bowed in return and reached out to shake his hand. "Does this mean Anakin will be moving in with you?" she inquired, glancing down at the grinning boy. Anakin nodded eagerly, turning shining eyes to Obi-Wan. "I am glad," Eh'lyeera said, smiling again. "I certainly did not mind having Anakin here, but it is good that he can join his master now. I take it Healer Bant is here to make sure Knight Kenobi doesn't overdo it just yet?" she asked, a teasing light entering her red eyes. The Mon Calamarian healer nodded with a smirk of her own.

"I am indeed. I can't trust Obi-Wan to take care of himself, so I am forced to tag along with him until I'm sure Anakin can handle the duties," she joked lightly, but Obi-Wan felt her stiffen slightly with real concern. He sighed and rolled his eyes, an exasperated smile on his face.

"Pay no attention to them, Anakin. They're laboring under the delusion that I am a helpless youngling still in need of constant supervision lest I skin my knee. Go and pack your things quickly." Bant snorted.

"And I suppose your great ability to take care of yourself is the reason you're still floating around in that," she retorted, leaning over to stare at his still-bandaged left leg. The look Obi-Wan shot her would have felled a charging bantha, but Bant ignored it. Anakin looked between them quizzically, but then at a nod from Obi-Wan he rushed off to fetch his things from the next room.

"It _is_ good to see you conscious and well, Obi-Wan," Eh'lyeera murmured in a low voice. "The Council have been impatient for Anakin to join you. And I…I have enjoyed taking care of him, but he has been very eager to begin training with you."

"As have I," Obi-Wan agreed, frowning a little at the strange look in Eh'lyeera's eye. There was a caution and a worry there that he did not like. "He has much to learn and I look forward to beginning with him." The Twi'lek Jedi nodded her head with a frown of her own, looking down at Obi-Wan's knees.

"There is no way to say this without sounding sadistic, but…I think that while no one in the Temple would have wished for these circumstances, it may be well that Anakin's first weeks of lessons must be restricted to less physically demanding exercises. He has been enjoying the strengthening and conditioning classes with his age-mates, but I do not think it would be wise to encourage him in sparring until he has developed some emotional control." Obi-Wan's frown deepened at Eh'lyeera's words.

"With all due respect, Knight Taf'tan, I will keep my own counsel on how to begin his training," Obi-Wan answered stiffly, irritation flaring through him. "I am grateful to you for taking care of him while I was…incapacitated, however I believe that the decisions regarding his training are now up to me—and of course, the will of the Council." Bant's eyes widened in surprise, and Eh'lyeera's green skin darkened in an embarrassed flush.

"Please don't take offense, Obi-Wan," she said softly. "I only wanted to—"

"Come, Anakin," Obi-Wan interrupted abruptly as the boy appeared in the doorway between what had been his room with a small bag on one shoulder. Anakin shot the two Jedi a wary look, immediately picking up on the tension between them.

"What's going on?" he asked suspiciously, watching them.

"We're leaving, Padawan. It's time we got settled into our own quarters and let Knight Taf'tan get back to her own business," Obi-Wan answered coldly. Anakin hesitated a moment longer in the doorway, trying to feel out the cause of the sudden drop in room temperature. Finally, he hurried across the room to stand beside Obi-Wan, who dipped his chin in a curt nod good-bye to the Twi'lek Jedi and turned to leave.

"May the Force be with you, Master Taf'tan," Anakin called over his shoulder as he hurried after his master. Before she turned to follow, Bant met Eh'lyeera's eyes with an expression of deep, silent concern. Eh'lyeera met the look steadily, not saying anything. After a moment, Bant nodded her head and followed Obi-Wan's steadily retreating back, letting the door swish shut behind her, leaving Eh'lyeera to her own thoughts.

"Obi-Wan." The hover chair did not slow down. "Obi-Wan! Wait up, already," Bant panted, chasing after the wayward Knight. Anakin trotted beside the chair, sneaking furtive glances at Obi-Wan's stern profile. "What was that all about?"


	9. Chapter 9

A Great Start to a Stellar Relationship

by JediDreams

Sorry it's been so long! And it's a shortish chapter too :( After all those great reviews, I suck. I will try and update more, but I can make no promises because I'm making it up as I go now, or letting the story make itself up. I have a couple ideas for the next chapter or two, so I'll try and get them up before the next ice age. Thanks for reading and reviewing, you guys are the best!

"Obi-Wan." The hover chair did not slow down. "Obi-Wan! Wait up, already," Bant panted, chasing after the wayward Knight. Anakin trotted beside the chair, sneaking furtive glances at Obi-Wan's stern profile. "What was that all about?" Bant's voice was completely bewildered.

Obi-Wan clenched his jaw and gave a little push through the Force, as if he could really outrun Bant and his very confused Padawan in that ridiculous hoverchair. Inside his head, Obi-Wan felt the same question rolling around and around, trailing a bright flare of anger behind it like the tail of a comet. "Obi-Wan, _stop_," Bant cried, breaking into a jog to keep up with the chair.

"Master Obi-Wan!" Anakin called, is voice shaking a little with the effort of keeping up. Still, Obi-Wan ignored them and kept going. He did seem to recall his late master frequently making reference to the hardheadedness that kept him gliding away from his friend and his apprentice. _Apprentice_, he thought. _As if I'm anything like the teacher that boy is going to need. I can't even look out for my mentor, with all his years of training. I let him die. Why in the worlds did the Council agree to let me take this boy's life into my hands?_

Obi-Wan came within a hair's breadth of flying right out of the chair when he suddenly felt the invisible hands of the Force grab the chair from behind and stop it dead in its nonexistent tracks. Obi-Wan barely caught the front of the chair with both hands in time to avoid being catapulted to the floor. Incensed, he spun the chair and turned to face a very startled Bant and Anakin, both still reaching for the chair. Bant shot a quicksilver glance to the side at Anakin, her expression suggesting there was something unexpected about what had just happened.

"Are you _trying_ to kill me?" he demanded. "Again?" Anakin paled so fast he looked like he'd been drained of blood by a high powered vacuum suction.

"Obi-Wan, that's enough," Bant snapped after a strangled silence. "Come here, we need to talk." Her tone left no room for argument. Grudgingly doing as she said, Obi-Wan followed her pointing finger and steered the hoverchair to a quiet alcove nearby. Anakin followed in uncharacteristic silence, still pale as a ghost and seemingly struck mute. Obi-Wan parked his chair near the smoothly curved wall and closed his eyes in sudden exhaustion. _What is wrong with me?_ he wondered, frustration rising like a cloud within him. _Where did all that come from?_ He felt like he, the Obi-Wan who had left for a simple negotiation mission on a little planet called Naboo, had disappeared, or fallen down the incinerator chute in the reactor core on Theed. Being him now was like being stuffed inside someone else's skin. An angry, bitter, jealous someone else.

Jealous?

"Obi?" Bant's voice was gentler now. Worried. Obi-Wan opened his eyes and met hers in a quick flash of guilt before falling to Anakin's.

"I'm sorry, Anakin," he said. Guilt washed over him. "I shouldn't have gotten so upset. It was….unseemly. I owe an apology to you both, and to Eh'lyeera. That was extremely unJedi-like behavior and I have no excuse. I lost control of myself and let my feelings dictate my actions. I acted like a youngling when I should have been setting an example to you, Anakin, of how a Jedi Knight speaks and conducts himself. If nothing else, maybe eventually you'll learn what _not_ to do, if you watch me enough."

Anakin's expression was guarded. Obi-Wan hadn't seen this look on the boy's face since he'd stood beside him in the Council room, listening to Master Windu's declaration that he should not be trained. It was the expression of someone who has learned very early on not to trust the words of someone in power. Obi-Wan sighed deeply. Could they possibly have gotten off to a worse start? He didn't think so.

"I thought Jedi were supposed to follow their instincts," Anakin muttered suddenly, making Obi-Wan jump a little. "That's what Qui-Gon and Master Eh'lra said." He stared at Obi-Wan, his face hard and wary. Absurdly, he seemed to actually be testing Obi-Wan, as if one answer he didn't like would be enough to confirm his belief that Obi-Wan was no Jedi after all. Wearily, Obi-Wan looked up at Bant.

"Bant, I apologize for my behavior, you give us a moment please?" Bant studied him for a moment, her face still troubled, but at last she nodded and walked over to a window on the other side of the hall and took great interest in the cargo ships lumbering by. Obi-Wan turned back to Anakin, whose blue eyes wore a strangely hooded look.

"There is a difference between acting on instinct and letting your feelings carry you, Anakin. It is a subtle difference until you grow in tune enough with the Force to understand when it is guiding you. You will learn to sense the will of the Force through meditation and through your classes here." Obi-Wan felt self-conscious, trying to explain to this desert native what came to him as a vision of a flowing stream that led to a deep, still pool. Emotions, to Obi-Wan's inner sense, were like trying to navigate whitewater rapids with a leaking raft and no paddles. That imagery would have no meaning to Anakin.

"So, when Qui-Gon said he was acting on his instincts to come into Watto's shop, he was doing the right thing….and when you just went laser-crazy on Eh'lyeera that was the wrong thing?" Anakin asked a moment later. Obi-Wan felt irritation flash through him at the bluntness of Anakin's statement, but beneath the irritation he reluctantly agreed with Anakin.

"I should have controlled my emotions better and behaved more like a Jedi. I showed no respect to a colleague and a member of my family who has done nothing more than what the Council bade her to do. Qui-Gon was always much better at telling the difference between instinct and feeling….or else just ignoring it," he finished with a quirk of annoyance. "Maybe I should just let Master Yoda or Master Windu explain it to you, they'll probably do a better job of it than me." Anakin's stoic mask broke in an instant.

"No! Not Master Windu! He thinks I'm a sand devil! And Qui-Gon told me Master Yoda hits with that stick of his."

Obi-Wan found himself startled into a loud burst of laughter at the comical expression of dismay on Anakin's face.

"Oh, don't worry Anakin. I don't think the Force means to let either of us off that easily. I believe we are stuck with each other for quite a while yet. I guess you'll just have to learn to be a better Jedi than I am, if you're to do anyone any good." Obi-Wan's eyes crinkled with humor as he let a smile lift his tired face. Anakin answered with a grin of his own.

"Well I was already planning on becoming a better Jedi than anyone in the Temple. I'm going to be the best Jedi there ever was!" he boasted. Obi-Wan chuckled.

"I don't know if you want to say that just yet, Anakin. Yoda said the same thing when he was your age, and he's had 800 years to work on his technique. I don't know if you could quite pull off the wrinkled green knee-height look."

"Who said I had to look like Yoda?" Anakin grinned defiantly. "Maybe when I'm the best Jedi ever, I'll find out how to stay just the right age to marry Padme, and then I won't ever be as old and wrinkly as Master Yoda. I'll just be the best." Obi-Wan shook his head.

"Pride goes before a fall, Anakin. Why don't we just start with turning you into something like a Padawan, and we'll see what's what. Your braid is already crying out for help and you've only had it in a few months!" he chided gently. "Besides, best Jedi ever or not, you can't marry Padme. Jedi do not marry."

"Who cares about a braid? It's just hair. And why don't Jedi marry? That's stupid, how do they expect to keep having more Jedi if they don't marry?" Anakin snorted. Obi-Wan bristled inwardly at the boy's attitude.

"The braid is more than just hair, Anakin, it's a symbol of the bond between Master and Learner, and it's also the thing you have been given to take care of. Later on, it will be your lightsaber. If you can't maintain a simple thing like a braid, that is attached to you at all times, how can you be expected to be responsible with the weapon and tool that is your life? And it's not stupid, it's the Jedi code. Jedi do not hate, and they do not love. They do not marry, and that has been part of the Code since Master Yoda was young. The rules are there for a reason, Anakin, and I for one have no interest in challenging them at this point. The Force has always provided the Jedi with its adepts, and I am sure it will continue to do so. Besides, Padme's much too old for you even if you were allowed to marry her."

"She is not old, she's beautiful! And I think it's a stupid rule. Just because it's old doesn't mean it's any good," Anakin muttered sulkily. Obi-Wan could feel his shrunken patience nearing an end.

"Anakin, I'm not going to debate this with you right now. The Code is what we live by, and it is what we uphold. If you cannot do that, you will not become a Jedi. This is simply how it is done. The Council have very good reasons for maintaining the Code, and I don't believe they have any plans to alter it. The rules exist for a reason, Anakin; marriage presents too many dangers to a Jedi to allow it. I know you don't understand it yet, but you will." Anakin elected not to voice his thought that he would never understand a rule he considered to be so fundamentally stupid and just shrugged instead. Obi-Wan's blue-green-gray eyes remained on him for a moment, watching his face. Anakin returned the gaze, lowering his head just a little out of habit. Habits learned in slavery didn't disappear just because you no longer wore an explosive ID chip.

"If you want, we can discuss it more tonight, after dinner. For now, what do you say we see how far away we can get before Bant realizes we've sneaked past her?" A mischievous sparkle glimmered in Obi-Wan's eyes, and Anakin found himself grinning sneakily in response. The two of them were nearly to the lifts at the far end of the hall before she turned around and yelled when she saw they were gone.

"Hey!"


	10. Chapter 10

To all my lovely readers:

Many, many, MANY apologies for taking so long to update! My laptop bit the dust with all my files on it, so my dad is currently undergoing the painstaking process of retrieving the data while I wait for my new computer to be shipped out. My only internet access is through my computer at work, so I can't really spend a lot of time on fanfic stuff, but I have written out the next chapter by hand so I will try to upload it asap. Thanks so much for hanging in with me, you guys are awesome! I really appreciate all your reviews. Hang in there a little longer and I'll update with the new chapter as soon as I can.

Much love,

JediDreams


	11. Chapter 11

Nearly three weeks had passed since Obi-Wan had been declared fit to leave the hospital wing and take up residence in his new apartments with his Padawan. The first few days had been an awkward cycle of enjoyable camaraderie and scolding as Anakin struggled to adapt to the Jedi way of life. Obi-Wan, reared since infancy in the peaceful gravity of the Temple, had to remind himself again and again to be patient with Anakin as the boy learned new rules by breaking them. While he and Anakin were generally able to get alone well enough, Obi-Wan had not seen Eh'lyeera in the entire time since he had gone to collect Anakin from her care after being released from the healer's ward. Guilt for his uncalled-for behavior sat on his mind like a lead weight, and he tried to actively seek her out whenever he had a moment's peace in which to do so. When Anakin was not in class, he was peppering Obi-Wan with questions and making impertinent remarks about other Jedi, which required chastisement from Obi-Wan through lips bitten to contain a smirk. He couldn't very well claim to be teaching his young apprentice manners if he was laughing aloud at Anakin's impolite but spot-on commentary on their fellow Jedi.

Anakin was making progress, and was slowly becoming acclimated to the pace and rhythm of Temple life. He chafed at being confined to the Temple itself, but spent most of his spare time dragging Obi-Wan around infrequently explored halls at the farthest corners of the stately structure. Still confined to his hover chair, Obi-Wan shared the feeling of entrapment but did his best to demonstrate patience and acceptance. It was not until about two weeks after Obi-Wan and Anakin had moved in together, however, that they actually formed something like a bond of friendship, to bolster the pathetically ragged Master-Padawan one created at the formal ceremony performed long before the accident.

Anakin was scheduled to be in classes all day, catching up with his age-mates on the galactic educational standards for a child of his age. Obi-Wan was only halfway through his hover-chair confinement, but was feeling restive and anxious to do something other than float around watching Anakin and apologizing for things he didn't know he was doing wrong. On a whim, he decided to visit the Room of a Thousand Fountains.

Calm settled over Obi-Wan like a blanket as soon as he steered off the lift and into the room in which he had spent so much time as a youngling. For the moment, it seemed he had the room to himself. Obi-Wan closed his eyes, relishing the solitude; having Anakin as an apprentice meant he had precious little time to himself, let alone time not filled with chatter and questions. Obi-Wan was glad that Anakin did not feel as uncomfortable around him as the boy had when they'd first become master and apprentice, but sometimes he couldn't help but wish the child had a mute button.

The silence also gave him a moment to feel things he'd not fully felt until this moment of peace. He wondered if he'd ever appreciated Qui-Gon's ability to be still when he was a young, eager apprentice determined to prove to everyone that he was not a failure. He wondered if Anakin would ever wonder the same thing later. He wondered if he would wonder about Anakin wondering, and if Qui-Gon had ever wondered the same thing about either of them. Then he shook his head.

"Come now, Kenobi, you're getting ridiculous now."

"You know, talking to yourself can be a sign of lingering cranial trauma."

Obi-Wan closed his eyes and sighed.

"How did I know I wouldn't be able to escape excessive chattering even here, with Anakin in classes all day?" he asked the ceiling.

"Because you are stupid, and you became my friend a long time ago," Bant answered, coming into his field of vision from where she'd been standing near the entrance. "You know I can't just leave you to your own devices, you'd die. And I haven't been able to catch you in your apartment to check on you, so I am stalking you. You know, for a Jedi you're really easy to stalk. Don't you ever try anything new and different? I mean, I hear the room of 999 Fountains is pretty nice too." Obi-Wan snorted.

"There is no room of 999 Fountains, Bant, and I do try different things. Here, I was trying silence. Peace and quiet. It seems to be a failed experiment."

"Oh stop that, you grumpy old man. Why don't you try something more fun, like going for a swim?" she asked, indicating the nearby pool. Obi-Wan snorted.

"I'm not allowed to use a cane yet but you want me to swim? You'd rather I drown than fall on my face in the hall? Really, Bant, I'm not so sure about this friendship thing…"

"Actually," she said as she gave the chair a push towards the water, "swimming is one of the best forms of physical therapy there is. The water gives just enough resistance to work your muscles without you being able to jam them or work them too hard. What do you say to moving a little? I even brought you a swimming buddy."

Obi-Wan twisted in his chair to see a tall, handsome young man about his own age stride into the room.

"Garen!" he exclaimed, a smile and a blush warring for control of his face. Glad as he was to see his old friend, he still hated being spotted in the chair. The uncomfortable looks of sympathy and horror got under his skin and stayed there.

"Hello, Obi-Wan. Bant mentioned you'd gotten yourself banged up again but really—malingering in a chair while your padawan wreaks havoc on the Temple? Now that's taking things a bit far, Master Kenobi," Garen said sternly, waving a mocking finger under Obi-Wan's nose. Obi-Wan batted the finger away and smirked.

"And what's your excuse?" he demanded, arching an eyebrow superciliously. "Skipping out on a mission debriefing? Thumbing your nose at the council again? I know you didn't return from whatever mission you were on just to annoy me." Garen chuckled.

"Well, I did just get back from a mission, but the Council's already been briefed. I ran into Bant in the hall as she was tailing you and she had some dastardly plans in mind so I thought I'd join in and watch the fun. I think she'd have you swimming in bacta if you hadn't already spent a few weeks in it." Bant grunted as she dug around in the bag she'd carried in on her shoulder and pulled out a small remote controller.

"If he spent any more time in bacta right now he'd be completely immune. And with his track record, we can't afford for him to build up bacta toxicity or immunity. Especially with an apprentice that's apparently made it his mission to break every safety guideline there is." Pointing the controller at the pool, she pressed a series of buttons and nodded in satisfaction as submerged jets began pumping something into the pool. "All right, the buoyancy agents should be dispersed in another twenty seconds or so. You'll be able to float without working at it, so you can stay in the water and get a good workout without overdoing it. Now let's go."

Obi-Wan let her push his chair to the edge of the pool and help him remove the brace that still held his pelvis and mending leg in place, then leaned on Garen's shoulder while Bant stripped off his boots, tunics, and utility belt. Clad only in his pants now, Obi-Wan let himself slide into the water. He sank until he was submerged up to his chest, and then the buoyancy agents Bant had injected into the water caught his bodyweight and held him afloat, bobbing like a cork. A moment later, Bant and Garen had stripped down to their smallest layers and joined him. Obi-Wan sighed in contentment as the cool water caressed his broken body and gave him the freedom to move without fear of hitting some sharp edge. For a time, the three friends simply floated around, talking quietly with periodic commands from Bant of different exercises for Obi-Wan to try. Then Garen shot a stream of water directly into Bant's face from the other side of the pool.

"Garen!" she shrieked, picking a piece of sea plant off her face with one webbed hand. "You are such a pest!" Abandoning Obi-Wan, she dove beneath the surface and reappeared underneath Garen, throwing him up into the air and back into the water with a huge splash. The war was on, and though Obi-Wan stayed safely out of throwing range, he had great fun using the Force to squirt water into Garen's ear, up Bant's nose, and generally making a mess. Geysers shot into the air and the buoyancy agents caused the waves to carry three friends high and drop them down again. Garen tried to duplicate Bant's dive and ended up with only his head and shoulders staying beneath the surface while Obi-Wan and Bant pelted his exposed backside with concentrated sprays of water. Through it all Obi-Wan found himself smiling and laughing more than he had done in the last several months. For a few sweet, precious moments, everything that had gone wrong in his life faded into the background and only the joy of friendship remained.

Obi-Wan was so focused on his friends and acting a fool that he did not see the blue eyes peeping around the corner, watching him from the entrance to the room. Anakin was all astonishment as he watched his master—Obi-Wan of This is How Jedi Do Things—engaged in a water fight, playing like a youngling. He realized he'd never heard Obi-Wan laugh like that, free and happy. Usually he only heard a startled chuckle, and usually at something Anakin had said that he hadn't realized was amusing. Anakin felt a twinge of jealousy at Obi-Wan's happiness. The young man looked so comfortable, so at home here—something Anakin was sure he'd never understand.

Anakin slouched down and collapsed in a huffy pile on the floor beside the entrance. Leaning forward, he settled his chin on his hands and was settling in to enjoy a good session of self-pity when suddenly he found himself flying through the air. He let out a yell of surprise that ended in a choked splutter as he was dropped unceremoniously into the pool in the midst of his master and his two friends. Anakin panicked as the water closed momentarily over his head, flailing and kicking wildly.

"Anakin! Padawan! Calm down," Obi-Wan shouted, seizing the back of Anakin's tunic and pulling him up to the surface. "You're all right, you'll float. Relax, stop fighting the water." Anakin coughed and spit out water, clinging to Obi-Wan's arm in a hand that gripped like a vise.

"Wha-what was that all about?" he cried indignantly. "I wasn't spying!" Obi-Wan chuckled, and Garen roared with laughter.

"Young Skywalker, I presume?" he asked, grinning. Anakin stared at him, not speaking.

"Yes. Anakin Skywalker, meet Knight Garen Muln, one of my oldest and dearest friends. Garen and Bant are 'helping' me start gaining muscle strength back. I sensed that you were nearby and I knew you were supposed to be in class so I thought a little dunking might get your attention. I'm guessing it was your first—I can't imagine Tatooine had many pools like this, did it?" Obi-Wan said, eyeing his apprentice. Anakin was still wound up tight as a wire, but seemed to be enjoying the sensation of floating in spite of himself. The boy cautiously reached a hand down into the water, feeling its slightly thicker texture caused by the buoyancy agents, then looked back at Obi-Wan.

"I didn't know you could float in water like this," he mumbled shyly a moment later.

"You can't, normally. Bant added a buoyancy agent that enhances water's ability to float objects. Normally a human being would be too heavy to float for any length of time. The agent Bant added makes it possible to float for much longer periods of time without expending additional effort—perfect for a recovering body or beginning swimmer," he added with a wink. "It's about time I could teach you something useful. Maybe you can swim off some of that energy you seem to always have so much of except when it's time to get up."

And so Obi-Wan and Anakin spent the afternoon swimming in the pool, splashing, floating, relaxing, and playing. Bant and Garen left shortly after Anakin's dramatic entrance, although Bant stopped by periodically to make sure Obi-Wan wasn't overtiring himself and to be on hand when he was ready to get out. That night, after the most enjoyable day either had yet had, Obi-Wan and Anakin sat together in the common area. Obi-Wan sat with eyes closed, meditating lightly while Anakin tinkered with a broken mouse droid.

"Master Obi-Wan?"

"Yes, Anakin?"

"Today was cool. I mean, it was actually fun. Even though I didn't know how to swim, I didn't feel dumb and I learned how to really fast. If I can learn how to swim really fast, then I can learn to be a Jedi really fast, and then I can go back and set my mom free and do something good for everyone. Right?" There was a note of vulnerability in Anakin's voice that Obi-Wan hadn't heard before. Opening his eyes, he looked directly at Anakin. The child's expression was so serious that it looked entirely out of place on so young a face.

"Becoming a Jedi is not about how quickly you learn new things, Anakin, but about how deeply you open yourself to learning how to be one. I know there are many rules and ideals you don't yet understand—just like you didn't understand how to stay afloat at first. But with time, and patience, you will begin to understand them, and they won't frustrate you so. Being a Jedi is not about doing what makes us happy, and what is comfortable. It is about serving others, sometimes at the expense of our own comfort. Wishing to free slaves is a noble thought, but you must examine your reasons for it before you make it your goal. If you truly wish to free slaves, you must commit yourself to freeing them—or doing what other good you may, if freedom is not within your power to give. And do that by dedicating yourself to the Jedi way. I promise you, Anakin, that one day it will make more sense to you. In the mean time, try to remember that it's not all boring classes and lectures and codes." With another surprising wink, Obi-Wan cracked a smile at Anakin. "Sometimes even we old stubborn Code-lovers can be fun."

Anakin snorted. "Sure, if it's fun to half-drown your apprentices just so you can have an object lesson for later that night! I'll have to remember that when I have a padawan I can boss around."

Anakin's smirk and wink exactly matched Obi-Wan's.


	12. Chapter 12

A Great Start to a Stellar Relationship

By JediDreams

Author's note: Thanks so much to my wonderful faithful readers! I know it's been forever and a day since I updated—sincerest apologies for that. I'm sure you can all appreciate how life just kind of takes over sometimes. Also, many thanks to the readers who have added this story as a favorite! I am incredibly pleased and flattered, and hope the rest of the story will live up to your expectations now. And, without further babbling, here's the next chapter. I'm sorry it's short, but I needed to get that particular bug taken care of and then I'll be back with more!

No, I don't make any money from it, no I didn't make up the characters—except Eh'Lyeera. Don't sue me, you won't get anything from it anyway.

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It was four weeks to the day after Obi-Wan's release from the medical wing, and it was with much foreboding that he found himself gliding back through the doors for yet another examination of his healing body. Mustering every ounce of patience and serenity he could glean with a new and impossibly curious young apprentice, he steeled himself for whatever the results of his examination might be. He dearly wanted to be rid of the chair, especially since he'd thrown himself so diligently into what physical therapy he was allowed. He was very prepared to put up a fight, however, if Bant even hinted at another dip in bacta. There were some lines even Obi-Wan just couldn't bring himself to cross.

What he was not expecting was to glide into the exam room at exactly the same time as a tall, graceful Twi'Lek Jedi was leaving it. Obi-Wan found himself staring awkwardly at the lean, uncovered torso of one Eh'lyeera Taf'tan—the very Jedi he'd so rudely attacked with words for her care of his padawan. To both of their credit, the moment of awkwardness was very brief. Eh'lyeera sidestepped gracefully as Obi-Wan halted his chair before ramming into her. The blue-green woman betrayed only serenity in her expression as she bowed to Obi-Wan, but he caught the telltale twitch of her long, hairless head-tails that indicated discomfort. He didn't know much about the Twi-lek ability to communicate through gestures of their strange appendages, but he was able to recognize a few simple motions.

"Knight Taf'tan," he managed to get out, bowing from the waist as best he could from his chair. "I had hoped to run into you at some point, though perhaps not quite so literally." Neither Jedi cracked a smile at his lame little attempt at humor, nor did her guarded Force-sense relax.

"Knight Kenobi," she responded coolly. "I trust you are healing well, and not here for any new complications or injuries?" Obi-Wan smiled faintly and shook his head.

"No new injuries, for which I am very grateful. Merely a routine check-up." Eh'lyeera nodded and stepped to the side again.

"Then I should leave you to your examination. I would not wish to halt your healing or slow your progress in any way." With another bow, she turned to leave.

"Eh'lyeera, please wait," Obi-Wan protested, reaching out to take her sleeve. I've no stomach for small talk. I had hoped to find you in order to make amends for my inexcusable behavior when last we met. I repaid your care of Anakin pretty poorly, and I owe you an apology. I know that your words were given of a generous spirit and of a desire to help. I responded badly, and I am sorry. I am very grateful for you opening your heart and home to Anakin while I began my recovery, and I am in your debt. At the very least, I hope you will accept my apology, so that we need have no tension and discomfort between us. Not here, in our home, amongst family."

Eh'lyeera did not answer, but neither did she make her exit. She stood beside Obi-Wan's chair for several long moments, staring ahead of her with a fixed gaze, her Force-sense staticky with many thoughts and feelings. Eventually, Obi-Wan felt some of the static disperse, and she turned her head to look at him.

"All is forgiven, Obi-Wan. I have no wish to bring discord into the Temple either; not with so much of it filling the worlds outside our walls. And there is no debt. Were our positions reversed, I've no doubt you would do the same." She raised her eyes to his, allowing his gaze to penetrate beyond the cool surface calm. "I do fear for the Jedi, Obi-Wan. The galaxy is changing, and if we do not trust each other and honor each other, then I fear for our survival."

Obi-Wan's face darkened in a small frown.

"We can only remain true to the Force and to the pursuit of peace and justice, I am afraid, and hope to weather the storms of this age as our forbears have weathered ages past. The renewal of the Sith is a grave threat and a weight on my mind…but here, while we can, let us have peace and harmony here in the Temple. I would have Anakin learn something of those, if only for a time." Eh'lyeera nodded her head, then deepened it to a third and final bow.

"May the Force be with us, Obi-Wan Kenobi," she said.

"May it be with us all," he responded, dipping his head as she turned and exited the room. Obi-Wan was left with precious little time to ponder her grave words, though. No sooner had Eh'lyeera's back disappeared through the doors at the end of the hall when the one in front of him swung open to reveal an impatient Bant, hands on her hips, tapping her foot and glaring at him.

"Do you want to get out of the chair or not?" she demanded, gesturing pointedly. With a deep, long-suffering sigh, Obi-Wan guided the chair towards her, and the door swung shut again.


	13. Chapter 13

To my dear and wonderful readers:

To my dear and wonderful readers:

I can't begin to express how awesome a feeling it is to see another new email pop up in my inbox informing me that someone else has listed me as a favorite author or signed up for an alert to each new chapter in this story. Unfortunately, that awesomness may have to wane as I think this story has kind of run out of steam. Anakin and Obi-Wan have resolved their initial hurdle enough to have a kind of peace between them, Obi-Wan is on the road to recovery, and he even apologized to Eh'lyeera—who has the longest name of any character I've ever written. There may be more to the story, and I may resume it later, but for the time being I think my brain is done seeing it. If the thread picks up in my mind again, I will post again but right now, I am dead-ended. I am very sorry if any of you were really hoping for more in this story…but for now I got nothin'.

On the other hand, I do have some other story bits that might bear posting….keep your eyes peeled if you like this story, because you just may see some more on the horizon.

Many, many thanks for your faithfulness in reading and reviewing! It always takes a long time to wipe the big, cheesy smile off my face after a good review.

You guys rock.

-JediDreams


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